Barrow Creek

Barrow Creek is a small place with a
pub and an old telegraph station, north of Alice Springs in the outback
Northern Territory.

More exactly it is north of Ti Tree and south of
Devils Marbles along Stewart Highway, just about in the mathematical
centre of the continent of Australia.

The Telegraph Station by Philip Morton via Flickr.com

History of the Old Telegraph Station
The Old Telegraph Station was opened in the 1870s, along with many
others
such as Alice
Springs and Tennant Creek, to enable
communication with Europe. You can go inside – ask for the key in the
bar. The pub and a hotel were built in 1932, just in time for Tennant
Creek’s gold rush. There are also some old graves you can have a look
at; and you can stay at the hotel or in a caravan park.

by Razmataz' via Flickr.com

Modern Story - Peter Falconio
What put Barrow Creek on the news headlines in the modern time was the
disappearance of the British backpacker Peter Falconio in July 2001.
The couple had a bad luck
to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they could have been
more careful and not stopped their car. Haven’t heard the story? Peter
and his girlfriend Joanne were driving from Alice Springs towards
Tennant Creek when in
darkness they were stopped by a stranger who asked Peter to go out and
have a look at ”something that was wrong with their campervan”. Joanne
heared a bang (which is believed to have killed Peter) and was then
threatened by a gun while restrained with handcuffs, but when she was
left without attention only for a moment, she managed to escape and
hide in the bush in the darkness until in the early hours of the
following
morning she stopped a truck that took her to Barrow Creek Hotel
where they called the police.

The
case got extensive media coverage and numerous books were written about
the horror night.

And finally, in 2006, Joanne released her own
book
about the night, the court cases and how her life was changed forever.

Needless to say she was very lucky to escape but the story was far from
over for the poor girl. It took years of court cases, in some of which
she was suspected to have murdered Peter, before the murderer was
finally found guilty on the basis of DNA tests and imprisoned for the
rest of his life. The body of Peter Falconio has never been found.

by pixculture via Flickr.com

Here is a map of Barrow Creek area. You
can
double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places
closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the
satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand
corner.

Using this Website

Note:
This site uses
British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will
find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all
correct in the language used in Australia.

Disclaimer: Although
best efforts have been made to ensure
that all the information on this site is correct,
gondwananet.com is not to be blamed should there be a mistake.

Copyright notice:
All contents of this website are strictly protected
by the Law of Copyright. What
does that mean?